Here you will find blogs from Digital Dots and Verdigris covering technology and sustainability advances in the graphics industry over the last 25 years.
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We recently completed a week’s worth of global online meetings, discussing ISO standards for the graphics industry. In many virtual sessions spanning multiple time zones, we looked at everything from the comparative performance of spectrophotometers to managing viewing conditions for soft proofing in modern pressroom environments. In the … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Ecolabels are a useful way to signal a company’s commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly business practises. They confirm to customers, shareholders and staff that a company really is committed to managing its environmental impact. And the discipline required to achieve certified compliance with an ecolabel invariably yields … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Flexography is often considered a sort of industrialised version of letterpress printing, and capable of producing only rudimentary quality. But that hasn’t been true for years. Flexographic printing has evolved considerably over the last few decades and has been quietly stealing market share from gravure, offset and even … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Call it denial, call it boredom, call it what you like, but I can’t go on any longer ignoring this global pox. It has struck down too many people, devastated lives, trashed economies everywhere and still it shows only slender signs of abating. The only good news is … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner The need to solve the sustainability conundrum touches all businesses, including publishing, not least in these challenging times. Major brands such as Penguin Random House (PRH) have implemented sustainability policies, with defined commitments to reducing carbon emissions. Until recently, UK based PRH processed around one million books per … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner We hear a lot about the Circular Economy most of it quite confusing for printing companies and print buyers. However, we recently came across a comprehensive explanation of the Circular Economy and its underlying principles. It was provided by the Advisory Committee on Environmental Aspects (ACEA) which helps … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Now that there is more time to plan the next Drupa, we thought it might be interesting to explore some ideas for what might be interesting environmental impact additions to the show. First off the graphics industry could do with a bit of leadership on the sustainability front. … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Awards for sustainability in the graphics sector are not particularly common, and few have lasted more than a couple of years, despite the industry’s need for positive environmental messaging. But since the inception of the Sonora Plate Green Leaf in 2013 awards Kodak has continued to acknowledge customers … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner According to the European Union’s (EU) REACH legislation, chromium trioxide (CrO3) is a substance of high concern and its use should have been banned by 21 September 2017. However the EU Commission has authorised its continued use because CrO3 has been shown to be indispensable for a number … Read more
The weekly Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner Drupa 2020 is off until April 2021, which hopefully will give the organisers time to rethink their sustainability strategy. The event originally conceived for this year was to have had other priorities than sustainability. The speaker programme includes relatively limited sustainability input, for instance Achim Halpaap, a senior … Read more